Radio Society of Great Britain. Official HF. Contest Results.
Results - AFS SSB 2006 - Individual + Team Listings.
Checklogs gratefully acknowledged from DL7VRG, G4BJM, G6UBM, GM4OBD, M0FRS, M0MDF, MM3AWD, MW0OPS. + ... LICHFIELD TROPHY |
+ ... FLIGHT REFUELLING ARS TROPHY AFFLIIATED SOCIETIES (AFS) SSB CONTEST, 2006. Entries this year were 5% down on 2005, and the number of teams represented was down by 10%. Possibly this was due to conditions, which were certainly difficult with some entrants reporting high noise levels in the first part of the contest. What can not be disputed, however, was the spectacular manner in which short-skip propagation turned off. Between 1700 and 1720 depending upon location, all but the strongest local signals disappeared and were replaced with strong EU ones. This made things very difficult for the smaller stations, who traditionally rely on the later part of the event to make up their score. Even the top echelon were adversely affected, with only the first-placed individual and club being able to increase their score over that achieved in 2005. On the Leaderboard, "One" and "Two" change places compared with last year: Lichfield ARS 'A' take the Flight refuelling ARS Trophy from the Cray Valley RS 'A' by a substantially larger margin than in 2005 when the positions were reversed. Bristol Contest Group 'A' take third position from De Montfort University, largely because of a lower error rate. The individual leaders reflect the clubs for which they operated ... G3BJ takes the RSGB Lichfield Trophy, with G4BUO second and G3ZVW in third position. Special mention is due to 12-year-old Dan Phillips M3NDP who, supervised by G0VQR, operated G3ULT/P on behalf of the Reading & DARC and made 116 QSOs with only 2 errors. Thanks, as usual, to all stations who took part, especially those non-combatants submitting check-logs. Steve G3UFY SOAPBOX : 2E0BAX First AFS. I enjoyed the event and hope to enter again next year. 2E0BJM Had a power cut about 1730 ish and had to restart everything afterwards. didnt get many QSO's after that. Tried running for the last 15 mins, and only had two QSO's. 2E0FRZ VERY NOISY CONDITIONS. THANKS TO ALL WHO WORKED ME. ENJOYED USING SD FOR THE 1st TIME AT HOME. 2E0NCG Very surprised with number of stations active - first 80m contest ever entered / listened to! 2E1GUA Good fun but lots of QRM on 80m today. Thanks to all that worked me. G0AOJ SD is a brilliant contesting program. The bands were very crowded. I found people to be very polite dispite the QRM...!!! Operators seemed very patient and tolerent in general. G0DVJ/P No amplifier for first hour. Difficult propagation in last hour. Usual abuse on the band worse this year (obscenities). Good fun despite amp, pc, and headset tech probs! G0GDU GOOD SIGNALS IN FIRST 3 HOURS, HARD WORK FROM AROUND 1730. FOUND IT HARD TO FIND RUN FREQUENCY AT START, THEN FORCED OFF FREQUENCY ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. G0IOR Enjoyed it. SD good program after initial problems G0KPS NOT MANY STATIONS ON DURING LAST 90MINS G0KYS Difficult to fight through the QRM during daylight from down here in the SW. Things got better at dusk but then much worse when it was fully dark! Long skip meant only GM stations audible at the end. G0LGG The Sub station along the road caught fire just after the 2nd QSO (I was only running 100 watts!). We did not get power back till 10pm Saturday night. G0LGJ 1st time on 80M ssb contest, good start, difficult towards the end. G0LHZ Band very noisy for me in the last hour. Conditions changed dramatically in the last hour, it became very difficult (for me) to work UK stations and the band suddenly had S5 of noise across it. G0MBQ Plenty of QRM and QRN G0MRH Very good start with S & P but conditions declined dramatically till for the last hour or more there was no one to call and no reply to my calling. Last contact was after 35 minutes of calling! G0PSE BAND CONDX POOR. FINISHED EARLY G0RAF I must get a radio with digital filtering G0RTN This contest reminded me why I prefer CW contests. Lots of big amplifiers emitting in too small a band-width. Yuck! Hence the very small total. G0RXA Interesting being part of a contest with some very big signals. As a little fish, enjoyed the experience. G0THY I enjoyed using SD in this contest - getting used to computer logging now G0WLF I used SD for logging - it's great. Best one I have used. G0WWD The band was very good with plenty of activity. Using SD for the first time it is great and easy to use G1BUO I'm not a contester but have sent in a log to help my club - Cray Valley Radio Society. Would have made more contacts but the XYL said I had to visit the grand-children with her! G1FON Very confusing having 2 FON's in same contest - stns kept saying we have worked before Hi. First attempt at AFS and enjoyed it with a vy poor Ant. G1RNZ My First SSB Contest G3LHJ certainly different condxs from last W/E. Lots of activity - band went very long skip in last hour & nearly went QRT.- the weaker sigs harder to work this time and the Big sigs were BIG - cu next year God willing. G3LIK About time the power was restricted to 100 watts - too much splatter from stations using high power. Last hour was difficult when long skip came into being. Nice to hear a few 2E0 calls in amongst the gang. G3NLY We all would benefit from a 1300z start to minimise the usual friction with a number of deliberately 'difficult' stations on the continent. G3PYC I found SD very helpful for a geriatric operator G3RCV Great contest. Not as much activity as last year. Skip went very long at the end! G3SDC/P (op G8VHI) Rather a good contest this year. I was back on form. Condx took a nose dive as soon as it got dark G3SHF Thoroughly enjoyed the contest again. G3SJJ At about 1600 I suffered downright deliberate jamming again from the SSTVers. First with SSTV signals then a recording of my CQs. I thought 3749.7 would be clear off them but obviously proved wrong! G3SVD My best attempt at AFS so far. Had some trouble with serious jamming from about 15:50. Some Dutch speaking stations (no callsigns) came out of the noise as skip lengthened and started by saying "no contest on this frequency , qsy". I ignored them, later they started playing my own audio back on top of me, then a recording of a jammer and finally some SSTV. Eventually I just had to move. Soon after that the background noise level increased from S5 to S9+ until just after sunset. When that had subsided the skip went very long and I worked a good number of GMs, including MM3s, and european stns. Overall an enjoyable contest. G3SVL TRIED A LOW DIPOLE (30FT) AND IT REALLY SEEMED TO WORK - FIRST TIME I'VE BROKEN THE 250 Q's. PROPOGATION CHANGE JUST AFTER 17:00 PLAYED TO MY BENEFIT AS GM'S WERE THEN MUCH STRONGER. USED N1MM LOGGER FOR THE FIRST TIME - VERY IMPRESSED G3SWC Band conditions faded abt 1700! G3TBK GOOD SIGNALS FROM GM QUITE EARLY. HARD WORK AROUND 1700 BUT PICKED UP NEAR END. CONTEST IMPROVES EACH YEAR - MUST HAVE BEEN A RECORD ENTRY, OR I WOULD'T HAVE MADE MY HIGHJEST SCORE! G3TKF Never heard a band so suddenly switched off - Nearly went to look at the aerial to see if it had come down ! G3YIQ The last hour was hard work! G3ZBU Plenty of stations active. Great fun. |
G3ULT/P (op M3NDP) Dan is only 12 and it was his first RSGB contest. He had a fantastic time. I think he is now hooked on SSB contests. Dan did all the operating during the contest. The last hour was very slow but we had lots of fun. I was supervising Dan during the contest, Tom G0VQR.
G3VER (op M3KIZ, M3LFZ) This was the first HF contest for two new M3s under the local supervision of Brian G3YKB and remote support of Peter G4HSO. They had great fun and will be back next time!
G3VLX Everything was going well - held 1 frequency and over 100 Qs in first hour - then linear failed and had to run 100w barefoot for 3 hours with mainly S & P!
G3VYI POPPED ON AND WORKED A FEW!
G3WRR Hard work - especially in the last hour when the skip had gone very long!
G3YEC CW is my favourite mode but did this for RNARS !! lOTS OF SIGNALS BUT NOT HELPED BY MY NEIGHBOUR COMING OVER HALFWAY THROUGH TO SAY GOOD BYE AS THEY WERE OFF to the States that night so missed a whole chunk in the middle. Plenty very loud signals !!
G3ZGC Not bad considering. But the band is not wide enough for this!
G4AIU The band was very crowded-I ended AFS at 1617 UTC. Preferred the CW contest. Used SD V12.08 - no problems. Would prefer this contest to be held on a Sunday.
G4BUO Skip went very long at the end
G4CUS A GREAT CONTEST. MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT ENTERING ONE. COULDN'T FIND A FREQUENCY TO CALL CQ ON UNTIL THE FINAL HOUR SO WAS POUNCING ON OTHERS FOR MOST OF THE TIME. MIGHT BE AN IDEA TO LIMIT THE TIME ON 1 FREQUENCY TO ONE OR TWO HOURS TO GIVE OTHERS A CHANCE.
G4CWH Propagation changed amazingly towards the end with all short skip disappearing altogether. Never heard this before so early in the evening. Those stations that regularly lead the table should be spot checked to ensure 26dBW not being exceeded.
G4CZB Dramatic change in skip distance around 17.00
G4DBL QRN and QRM meant a slow start. Amazing how the short skip suddenly disappeared for the last hour or so!
G4DDX WONDERED WHY IT WAS HARD WORK BEING HEARD FOR FIRST HOUR AND HALF THEN FOUND RIT IN AND WAY OFF FREQ. BAND CHANGED BETWEEN 4.30 - 5 AND STATIONS JUST DISAPPEARED. VERY CROWDED. ENJOYED MYSELF
G4DFI Made about the same number of QSOs as usual. Must get SD up and running so I can log straight to the PC
G4EBK First two hours went well then the skip changed and it took a big effort not to switch off.
G4EKT GOOD CONTEST UNDER GOOD CONDITIONS. FIRST PAPERLESS CONTEST USING SD
G4EOF Better luck next year.
G4FBS Band noise for the last hour was horrendous. Skip changed too so that only GM's were strong.
G4FCN Hard Going !!
G4FNL Interesting rapid change in propagation in last 30 mins of the contest- It all went very quiet. I used SD for logging.
G4GZB Busy -but good!
G4HHJ Only managed a limited time of operation but hope to be back with more time next year.
G4HSO My first time in this contest. Enjoyed it very much and will be back.
G4KLF I used SD for logging - it's great. HARD TO FIND A SPACE FOR A RUN.
G4OGB Many 'grotty' signals ...... it's past time linears were banned.
G4RCD First hour was great after slightly slow start. Propagation changed towards the end with only far North of G and GM stations audible along with a few big local signals making for terrible rates at the end. Overall it was good fun and over 50% up on last year!
G4RFR FB CONTEST
G4TPO/P Thanks to the helpful operators before the start.
G4TSH Hard work this one, lots of local QRN made copy of the weak ones difficult. Lots of duplicate callers too!
G4TZR HARD WORK WITH ONLY 15W FROM MY HOMEBREW STAR.
G4VTO good and very enjoyable
G4WGE Dire - 4 hours of calling and being told to try later due to being a weak signal,local QRM or splatter! This QTH clearly doesn't work on 80m SSB.
G4YTV ENJOYED THE CONTEST - NO ROOM TO SWING A CAT !
G7HCL SD - great logging programme for this type of contest. Enjoyable contest
G7SOZ/P Thanks to G3PDH for the loan of his shack!
G7TWC/P Hard work, as always
G7VRK Found it hard work - lots of stations there. Late start didn't help
G8ATO USED THE SD LOG FOR THE FIRST TIME. LOT OF LOCAL QRM BUT HAD A GREAT TIME
G8FMH good fun
GM0ELP Very busy. Big signals, lots of g3s. Enjoyed contest - SD worked well
GM3JKS Better conditions than in recent years
GM3WIJ Hard to work into G
GM3WUX This contest doesn't work well from up here. It wasn't until about 16:30 that I could hold a frequency and start running QSO's.
GM4AFF Got so fed up with not getting heard that I went and had lunch at 1430 and came back again an hour later.
GM4OBD First attempt at computer logging! SD seems to work well but need to practise typing! Gave up calling CQ as I couldn't find VOX delay setting
GM4TVB Computer gave up at QSO No 6!
GW0GEI Re-hung the dipole after the mid-week winds and re-tuned the vertical for ssb, but did not use it as low dipole was always better even on Europeans. Activity seemed down but plenty of G7,G1,M3 and 2E stations about. Duped mostly by G3 stations who really must get their act together !
GW3PRL Yet again it was utter BEDLAM!!!! This contest should be changed either to 100w MAX or split into two sections - High & Low power. I am convinced some of the contesting stations were running multi kW outputs. Very pleased to use SD logging again, all very fb.
M0AEU Only managed the last 80 minutes! Very noisy at end
M0BPQ Came on to give a few points away, and the band went away as well!
M0CES too noisy, too busy!
M0FRS BAND OPEND AT 4PM AND DIED AT 5PM
M0MCX I should have been sponsored by Kleenex and Vick! AFS with flu - Ugh! But great fun AFS'ers. Some rotter switched on the high angle absorption catcher at 5:00. Don't do it again! Naughty!
M0MDF VERY NOISY BAND BUT GOOD TO GET BACK INTO CONTESTING AGAIN
M0MYC THINGS WENT WELL FOR FIRST 2 HOURS, THEN DROPPED OFF. GOOD CONTEST!
M0PTO First SSB contest so quite a shock but great fun.
M0RNE Missed the first 1.25 hours!
M0SOX first contest entry. Very enjoyable.
M0SPC Frantic at first. good fun! tnx for all QSOs. Used SD very effectively
M0SSR FIRST TIME FOR SD AND FIRST CLUB COMP. VERY GOOD.
M0TIF Most enjoyable contest - thanks to all involved in running it
M1ANT First AFS entry. I enjoyed it thoroughly!
M1PTR My first solo contest - great fun! Couldn't have kept up the pace without SD
M3OAF This is my first contest
M3TFX Towards the end of the contest there was a lot of QRM
M3ZGC Just a brief entry.
MM0BCR Contest was good fun
MM3IVG very busy. plenty G3 stations. sd easy to use